By Zac Lee Rigg

0

Sep 2, 2012 7:46:00 PM

Bolton indicated that Ream would be called up for the USA, but coach Klinsmann clarified that the defender was merely part of the preliminary roster.

Before the Aug. 15 friendly against Mexico, Stoke City revealed that Geoff Cameron had been called up prior to the official roster being released. Cameron stitched a staunch backline that kept a clean sheet in the 1-0 win in Azteca Stadium.

So it seemed straightforward when Bolton announced that Tim Ream made the U.S. roster for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Jamaica, on Sept. 7 and 11. Not so much.

The 24-year-old defender wasn't on the roster released on Sunday. Coach Jurgen Klinsmann explained that, though Ream made the preliminary list, he didn't quite sneak into the final 24-man list.

"Tim is on standby," Klinsmann said. "But when we send out the initial invitations, they all get basically a preliminary indication that will be ... divided into a final roster and the standby list."

U.S. Soccer spokesman Michael Kammarman explained that clubs must be contacted 15 days before the match if their players are on the preliminary roster.

"As a matter of procedure, FIFA rules require that 15 days prior to an international match, you must provide notice to a club that a player may potentially be called in," Kammarman said. "It doesn't mean that he's on the final roster, but you have to follow that procedure in order to ensure that the player is available. Once that process is completed then the coaches can go about selecting who will be on the final roster and who will be on a standby list."

In this instance, even though Molde FK midfielder Josh Gatt withdrew due to a hamstring injury, Klinsmann opted not to call on anyone from the standby list.

For the roster, Klinsmann and his staff decided on a central defensive corps which includes Carlos Bocanegra, Cameron, Maurice Edu, Clarence Goodson, Michael Orozco Fiscal and Michael Parkhurst. The German indicated that Ream is still firmly in the picture, with two assistants having watched Bolton games and with Klinsmann in contact with Wanderers manager Owen Coyle.

"We have constantly an eye on him, but he's not in the roster this time," Klinsmann said.